


Stay With Me

by backspacedintooblivion (Evil_and_I_know_it)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Chenle as Pennywise, F/M, M/M, Multi, Save Taeyong, Uni students YuWin, chansoo make a tiny appearance, domestic AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2019-08-17 04:44:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16509617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_and_I_know_it/pseuds/backspacedintooblivion
Summary: Johnny dresses up Chenle as Pennywise to scare the shit out of his husband.Title from Sam Smith's Stay With Me!





	1. Halloween.

**Author's Note:**

> For reference,  
> Taeyong+ Johnny- 32 y/o  
> Donghyuck- 12 y/o  
> Chenle- 4 y/o

Johnny was a good husband. On most days, if Taeyong were to be believed, he was a _fantastic_ husband. Which is why he was so sure that he could pull off the best prank ever.

“Okay baby, let’s get you dressed.”

Chenle nodded and stepped back to do their secret handshake. Johnny modelled it after Baymax and Hiro’s fist bump in Big Hero 6, except he added a little kiss to Chenle’s nose at the end. Chenle had demanded a handshake of his own when he saw that Johnny had one with his older son, Donghyuck. But Donghyuck’s handshake was quite complicated for a four year old, so Johnny improvised.

Their plan was relatively simple; scare the shit out of Taeyong and record it. Not that it would take much to put him on edge, but Johnny wanted to do something special, something that he could rewind and watch at night. Taeyong was supervising a costume party at Donghyuck’s school, an event to introduce the children to different cultures. Johnny thought it was just an excuse to get their kids to dress up in cute costumes and eat candy.

He picked up Chenle, gathered the make-up and headed to the bathroom. Taeyong was definitely the artistic dad, but Johnny could manage to paint a face sometimes.

“Remember you have to stay very still, okay? Daddy doesn’t want to hurt you, so will you please listen?”

Chenle nodded and once again Johnny thanked his stars for having the calmest four-year old on the block. He still didn’t know how his neighbours handled Baekhyun on a daily basis. The kid could out-scream a banshee.

He washed Chenle’s face first, tapping his nose twice as tradition (nobody could blame Johnny, his sons had the cutest noses). Then, he applied some cold cream before breaking open the can of white paint. He hesitated for a moment and wondered if clean-up and Taeyong yelling at him for ruining their child’s skin was worth it. But by then, Chenle had already dipped a finger into the can and smeared his nose with it.

“See daddy! Lele help too!”

Johnny laughed. “Thank you, baby. Now the work will be done faster!”

He managed to paint his face with only minimal distractions and no accidents or swallowing of paint. The two red lines and the nose were quickly done in red. Johnny paused at the lips, wondering if paint was really such a good idea. He rearranged a very sleepy Chenle on the counter so that he wouldn’t fall off and went to call his neighbour.

“Hey noona, sorry for calling at this time but I have a weird request.”

He pet Chenle on the head, slowly lulling him to sleep as he waited for Kyungsoon to finish yelling at her husband.

“Hi sorry, Baekhyun ate an entire packet of skittles when Chanyeol wasn’t looking. Now he won’t stop singing the national anthem and running in his underwear. What did you need again?”

“I was actually wondering if I could borrow your red lipstick. I’m dressing Chenle up as Pennywise to scare Taeyong.”

Kyungsoon laughed over the phone. “Well, I’ve always loved a good prank. Give me five minutes, I’ll be there to help. Lord knows I need some time with sane people.”

By the time Kyungsoon showed up, Chenle was asleep on Johnny’s chest in full make-up. Though it was going to ruin his sleep schedule, it made sense for him to take a quick nap before waking up again to scare Taeyong.

“He looks adorable,” Kyungsoon whispered, handing over the lipstick.

“Thanks. How’s the little demon? Still on a sugar high?”

She rolled her eyes. “I swear it feels like I’m taking care of two kids. Chanyeol almost cried when I told him that I was coming to help you. Baekhyun was on his shoulders, pulling at his ears.”

Johnny snorted. Only Kyungsoon could handle Baekhyun. Her husband Chanyeol, survived on prayer and his cooking skills on the days he looked after their son.

With another pair of hands helping him, Johnny quickly finished applying the rest of the make-up. Chenle’s lips were done a bright cherry red and a thin red line extended from them to a little above his eyebrows. Kyungsoon used Taeyong’s eye-shadow and eye-liner to give his eyes a smoky effect, which made him look more menacing. Surprisingly, Chenle stayed asleep throughout the ordeal.

“What I would give, to have a child that quiet.”

“You’re a lying liar that lies. Remember when Baekhyun was extremely well behaved for your birthday and you freaked out and almost cried?”

Kyungsoon shoved at him playfully. “Shut up, Johnny Seo. I can’t believe that I came to help you only to get slandered. I’m going to go home where I’m appreciated. At least Chanyeol won’t call me out like this.”

“Thanks for the help, noona. I’ll let you know how it goes. If you hear screaming, please don’t call the police.”

He gave her a hug and walked her to the door. With Chenle asleep, there wasn’t much Johnny could do except make sure that Taeyong wouldn’t find any evidence after he got back. He tucked Chenle in and gently put on a giant dinosaur head on him, effectively hiding the makeup. The headgear was a gift from his babysitter, Sicheng and Chenle would go days without removing it. Satisfied that he was still asleep, Johnny slipped out of Chenle’s room and cleared up the bathroom.

When Taeyong got back, he found Johnny sprawled out on their couch with one of his legs dangling off the edge and a book in his hands. Donghyuck took one look at him, dropped his bag on the floor and flew at Johnny, making himself comfortable on his chest.

“Hey puppy,” Johnny chuckled, running a hand through Donghyuck’s hair. “Did you have fun today?”

Donghyuck just mumbled sleepily and buried his face further into Johnny’s shirt. Getting the hint, Johnny gathered his son in his arms and lifted him off the couch.

“Okay Michael Jackson, let’s get you cleaned up and ready for bed.”

Taeyong just watched his husband and son fondly. He caught Johnny’s arm before he could go into their sons’ room and tiptoed to press a kiss at the corner of his mouth.

“It is unbelievably hot that you can still carry puppy like he’s five years old,” he murmured.

Johnny laughed and adjusted his hold on the sleeping child.

“Trust me, I think I’m going to be carrying him when he’s sixteen as well.”

Taeyong sat at the couch sorting out Donghyuck’s candy and eating all the peanut M&Ms. He took a picture of the candy and sent it to Ten, who promptly replied with a dozen crying emojis. After a few minutes of random Instagram surfing, he feels Johnny’s weight settle next to him and pull him into a side hug.

“Are the kids asleep? Did you remember to give Chenle a bath?”

“Yes, dear.” Johnny ducked to avoid his husband’s half-hearted slap. “How was puppy’s party?”

“As well as a party with thirty twelve year olds could go. Mark and Hyuckie won a dance battle and Doyoung almost slapped a parent at one point because they wouldn’t stop making the kids pose for pictures.”

Johnny hummed and ran his hand through Taeyong’s hair. His husband was adorable when tired, all pliant and soft. Taeyong leaned into his chest further, wrapping an arm around Johnny’s waist.

“I think you need to get some sleep too. Come on, sweetheart.”

“It’s not even ten,” Taeyong whined. “I wanted to sit with you and maybe kiss you a dozen times.”

It was times like this that Johnny felt an overwhelming surge of affection for his husband. It made him regret his plan a little bit. Just a little.

“You have the rest of your life to kiss me a dozen times.” He paused. “Although, I’m hoping for more than a dozen kisses from you.”

Taeyong grumbled but allowed himself to be ushered into their bedroom. He half-heartedly washed his face, brushed his teeth and stripped to his boxers before face-planting on the bed. He wiggled a little and then closed his eyes.

“Don’t stay up too late reading, baby.”

Johnny smiled, fond. “I won’t.”

* * *

 

Taeyong woke up to the sound of music. With a groan, he slapped the space next to him, hoping that Johnny could switch it off. Surprised to find it empty, he got up and looked around the room, disoriented. The music sounded suspiciously like a nursery rhyme and it came from the baby monitor they kept in Chenle’s room. Finally awake and a little scared, Taeyong stumbled towards his son’s room, calling out Johnny’s name the whole time.

“Lele, baby?”

He rushed into the room and found a music box. Taeyong could feel the panic close his throat, his baby was missing. He screamed out for Johnny again. Terrified of what had happened, he ran to Donghyuck’s room and rushed inside. Taeyong frowned as the lights wouldn’t switch on.

“Puppy?”

Donghyuck wasn’t at his bed either. Close to tears, Taeyong turned around to grab his phone to call someone about his missing family and felt his heart stop. At the door, was a tiny Pennywise giggling madly while holding onto a red balloon. Taeyong screamed and fell backwards. The room was filled with a voice chanting _‘you’ll float too’_ as Pennywise got closer.

“Stay away from me! Johnny! Help me!”

Taeyong sobbed as he wrapped his arms around himself. Tiny Pennywise stopped a few inches away from him.

“Hi Papa!”

Suddenly the voice stopped and the lights were turned on. In front of him, was his four year old looking absolutely menacing in a Pennywise costume. Chenle giggled and climbed into Taeyong’s lap, accidentally hitting his head with the balloon.

“Daddy said give papa a hug in the end, so hug Lele!”

Still trembling, Taeyong hugged Chenle tightly, unable to believe what had just happened. Johnny popped up at the door after that, dragging along a sleepy but amused Donghyuck.

“Happy Halloween, sweetheart.”

“Seo Youngho.”

“Ooh, daddy’s in trouble,” sing-songed Donghyuck. “Come on Lele, let’s wash off that makeup and go back to sleep.”

He pulled Chenle off Taeyong with some difficulty and managed to whisper in his ear that it was all Johnny’s idea. After their sons left the room, Taeyong crossed his arms and glared at Johnny.

“Why did you think it was a good idea to dress up my baby like tiny Satan?”

“Babe, it was just a prank and Chenle wanted to do it! You have to admit, it went pretty fantastically.”

“I can’t believe you did this. Stay away from my baby,” Taeyong hissed. “You, you destroyer of innocence. You’re sleeping on the couch for the rest of your life.”

With that Taeyong got off the floor, still a little shaky and pushed his way past Johnny into their bedroom. If his words weren’t enough, the door slam made his anger quite apparent.

Johnny sighed and went to check up on his children. He had expected Taeyong’s reaction but sleeping on the couch was something he always hated. Donghyuck, with his usual efficiency, had managed to strip Chenle and get most of his makeup off. When Johnny walked in, Chenle was chewing on Donghyuck’s fingers while he tried wiping the lipstick off.

“I couldn’t remove his wig,” he pouted. “Also, you can share my bed, daddy. I won’t mind.”

“It’s not a wig, puppy, I just used some hair chalk. We should be able to wash it out tomorrow.” He wiped off Chenle’s lipstick and gently rubbed some cream on his paint-less face. “Thank you for your offer, but I think I deserve papa’s punishment this time. Now come on, off to bed.”

He tucked both of them in with an extra kiss for Chenle for being the best Pennywise ever. He was about to head to the living room when he heard his bedroom door creak.

“Johnny?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Can you come inside?”

“I thought I was supposed to sleep on the couch?”

“I’m scared, you asshole. The least you can do is comfort me after ageing me fifty years.”

Johnny laughed but obliged. He picked Taeyong up in fireman’s lift and dumped him on the bed, ignoring all noises of protest. Getting in after him, he pulled Taeyong close and pressed their foreheads together.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“I’m sorry for scaring the crap out of you.”

Johnny cradled Taeyong’s face and kissed him gently.

“I guess this is what I get for marrying an American.”

Taeyong squealed as Johnny pinched his waist and bit his shoulder in retaliation. They stayed like that for a while, exchanging kisses and holding each other close. Right before they fell asleep, Taeyong asked Johnny one last question.

“Please tell me you didn’t record it.”

“…”

“I want a divorce.”


	2. Babysitter.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny and Taeyong hire a babysitter for Chenle and Donghyuck is disgusted by Yuta and Sicheng.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This is just word vomit xD but babysitter Sicheng would be so cute?? especially with bb Chenle??? calling him baobao??? I'll see myself out.

The decision to hire Sicheng as a babysitter was mostly motivated by Yuta trying to blind them with his smile. The university students lived with Yuta’s parents a few houses down and Sicheng was an exchange student completing his degree in Korea.

“Hyung, please! Winko needs a job and you said you wanted to Chenle to learn Chinese eventually.”

Taeyong bit his lip and adjusted Chenle in his arms to avoid the pout Yuta threw at him. While he was right, Taeyong was a little afraid of leaving his 3 year old with someone he didn’t know. But Yuta was definitely trustworthy, having seen him take care of Donghyuck and Baekhyun at the same time. Taeyong sighed.

“We’ll have a supervised one first, if that’s okay with Sicheng. Johnny managed to teach him a few words but I think he’s a little fixated on ‘bao’.”

As if on cue, Chenle bounced in Taeyong’s arms, screaming “papa bao, papa bao.”

Yuta laughed. “Don’t worry, hyung. As a cute thing himself, Sicheng loves anything even remotely adorable.”

“Gag.” Taeyong made a face. “If this is how you flirt, then I’m surprised that he agreed to date you.”

* * *

 

“Dong Si-Cheng.”

Chenle frowned. “No.”

Taeyong opened his mouth to ask Chenle to behave, but Johnny stopped him with a hand to his wrist. They needed to see how Sicheng would handle it.

“If you can’t say my name baobei, how will you talk to me?”

Chenle brightened up at the endearment and began bouncing on the mat. Sicheng took his tiny hand and pretended to chomp it, causing Chenle to laugh-scream.

“No!”

“Every time you say no, Gege will eat one part of your body. Does Lele want his hands?”

“Yes!”

“Then repeat after me, Dong Si-Cheng.”

“Dong Sucheng!”

Chenle beamed at his botched attempt and turned to his parents.

“Daddy see! Lele is a good boy!”

Johnny smothered his laugh in Taeyong’s shoulder, inviting a quiet ‘gross’ from Donghyuck. While Taeyong proceeded to smother their older son in kisses as punishment, Johnny joined Chenle on the floor, who immediately crawled onto his lap.

“Good job, baby! Lele is a very good boy. Does Lele like Sicheng gege?”

Chenle stared at Sicheng with a passive face. Sicheng smiled at cutely, with bunched up cheeks and an eye smile.

“Sucheng gege has nice smile.”

Taeyong and Johnny exchanged a look. They supposed that was the best compliment they could get from a three year old. They nod at Sicheng who excitedly picked up Chenle from Johnny’s lap and placed a smacking kiss on his cheek.

* * *

 

A year and half later, Chenle’s Chinese was improving at the same speed as his Korean and Donghyuck and Mark were sufficiently terrified of Sicheng.

“Papa, he knows _martial arts,”_ whispered Donghyuck. “Also he’s so gross with Yuta hyung. Once, Yuta hyung licked Sicheng hyung in the face and he didn’t do anything about it!”

“That doesn’t sound like Sicheng,” said Taeyong, mildly. He wasn’t even paying complete attention to what Donghyuck was saying. It was his turn to cook that night and Johnny had asked for something Italian. He frowned at the pasta sauce in his hand.

“Puppy, can you read out the ingredients for me?”

Donghyuck huffed but did as he was asked. Dong Sicheng was secretly gross and he would prove it. The sound of the front door opening perked him up. His dad was easier to convince than his papa any day. He found Johnny lounging on the sofa with his tie loosened and Chenle already in his lap, playing with his cufflinks.

“Hey puppy, how was school?”

Donghyuck launched into a long winded explanation of why he hated history and why Mark should not be allowed into a library unsupervised. He rambled on for a while before he remembered why he came up to Johnny in the first place. 

“Daddy, can we talk about S-I-C-H-E-N-G?”

Chenle frowned at him, still trying to figure out the letters. “No fair, hyung! Lele wants to know too!”

“Sorry Lele, but if you go help papa with dinner, hyung will share his special cookie with you!”

“Okay!”

They both watched as Chenle scampered off into the kitchen and greeted Taeyong enthusiastically. Donghyuck made himself comfortable in the space he vacated.

“You’re going to get too big to do this soon, puppy.”

“Don’t lie daddy, the only reason you go to the gym is so that you can carry all of us at the same time and look cool in front of Uncle Ten.”

“I resent that! It’s true, but I still resent that.” He poked Donghyuck in the waist. “So why did you want to talk about Sicheng? Did something happen?”

Donghyuck wrinkled his nose. “No, he’s just scary. And gross.”

Johnny laughed. “And what do you want me to do about it?”

“I don’t know!” Donghyuck whined. “He shouldn’t let Yuta hyung lick him in front of Chenle. Babies are not allowed to see that.”

Johnny raised an eyebrow. As parents, Taeyong and he never shied away from physical affection in front of their children. But licking each other’s faces might be pushing it a little.

“Are you sure that’s what happened, puppy? I know Yuta can be a bit…much with his affections towards Sicheng, but I’m just trying to make sure we’re on the right page.”

Donghyuck huffed. “I’ll ask Chenle to demonstrate for you during dinner.”

Oh boy. Taeyong was going to ­ _love_ that.

* * *

 

Dinner was a noisy affair in the Seo-Lee household, mostly because Donghyuck liked to relive his day at school. Either Taeyong or Johnny would keep an eye on Chenle as he demolished his dinner with a baby spoon or on the rare occasion, practice chopsticks, and exchange amused looks. This time Taeyong had made spaghetti, so he had to feed Chenle and sometimes Donghyuck who pouted at him.

“ _As I was saying,_ papa you didn’t listen to me when I tried to tell you about how gross YuWin were being.”

Taeyong frowned and paused with the fork hovering in front of Chenle’s face.

“What’s a YuWin?”

“Yuta hyung and his significant other.”

“Puppy, why aren’t you using his name today?”

Donghyuck shot a look at his baby brother. “Because _someone_ loves him and will proceed to tell him everything before we can do anything.”

Taeyong sighed. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s going on?”

The look of sheer triumph on Donghyuck’s face had Johnny choking on his pasta. He flailed for a bit before Taeyong handed him a glass of water with an unimpressed stare.

“Lele,” Donghyuck said, in an annoying cute tone. “Will you show papa what Yuta hyung did to Sicheng gege that day?”

Chenle nodded and much to Taeyong’s horror, licked his cheek.

“I love you papa!”

Taeyong made a strangled noise. “That _monster_. How _dare_ he ruin my baby’s innocence like this?”

“Hyuckie I get why Yuta is gross,” Johnny mused. “But why did you call Sicheng gross?”

“Because he gets all red and hides his face after Yuta hyung does stupid things.” Donghyuck made a face. “Kinda like how papa gets when you call him beautiful or do some cheesy nonsense.”

Taeyong turned bright red and glared at Johnny, who was high-fiving Donghyuck.

“Aw, don’t be like that Yong. We’ll talk to them and make sure everything stays PG.” Johnny wiggled his eyebrows. “Besides, we were also young once. Remember that time when we were house hunting and puppy was with your mom?”

Donghyuck and Taeyong screeched at the same time.

“YOUNGHO!”

“GROSS!”

* * *

 

Yuta fidgeted under the glare of three people. Well, two. Johnny was looking at him with more sympathy than anger or annoyance.

“I cannot _believe_ my baobao saw you do that disgusting thing and THEN REPEATED IT ON HIS FATHER!”

With every word, Sicheng’s voice seemed to get louder and Yuta seemed to shrink further into the couch. Johnny was glad that Chanyeol had agreed to look after the kids for a while. Chenle would have burst into tears seeing Sicheng like this.

“I won’t say anything to you,” said Sicheng, after almost punching Yuta in the face. “I will tell your mom.”

“Babe, no,” whispered Yuta, horrified. His mother would scalp him for scarring the babies. He let out a whimper just thinking about it.

Satisfied that his boyfriend was suffering (and would suffer at home as well), Sicheng dropped to a ninety degree bow in front of Johnny and Taeyong.

“Taeyong ge, Johnny ge I am _so_ sorry about this. I completely understand if you want to replace me. I can even help find someone for you. Just, please don’t stop me from seeing the boys.”

Taeyong’s expression cracked and he jumped to pull Sicheng into a hug.

“It’s not your fault, sweetie. We’re going to have to ban Yuta from inside the house for a while but that’s about it. PDA is okay, even in front of the kids as long as it’s kept to a bare minimum. But I just wanted to know, why did you let him lick you? That’s disgusting.”

Sicheng turned bright red. “It’s more of how much can he get away with before getting beat up. I really didn’t think the kids would see. Usually he keeps it to a kiss and some cringe-worthy lines.”

“Hey! You said you liked them!”

“I lied.” Yuta seemed to deflate some more. “Don’t you have something to say, Nakamoto?”

Yuta pouted. “I’m sorry, hyung. I should have paid more attention to my surroundings before doing weird things. I keep forgetting how easily children pick up these things, which is really dumb of me to be fair. Last week, Baekhyun heard me scream ‘I love you’ in Japanese and has been answering everything that Kyungsoo noona says with ‘aishiteru’.”

He grinned when everybody laughed.

“It was funny for a while, but now noona isn’t going to give me any of her baked goods for a month. Its punish Yuta season.”

Johnny slapped the back of his head lightly. “It’s ‘tell Yuta to get his shit together or someone will murder him’ season.”

“Taeyong hyung, your husband is bullying me!”

“Good. The next time you do something like this in front of my children, I’ll cut off all your hair and mail bits of it to you every week.”

Yuta took a step back. “That’s very Silence of the Lambs of you, hyung. Time for me to go. Sicheng?”

Sicheng apologised one more time to both of them before dragging Yuta out by his ear.

“Should we have been stricter with them?”

“Nah,” replied Taeyong. “Yuta’s mom is the scariest. Once Sicheng tells her what happened, we won’t even see Yuta for a month.”

Taeyong fell back on the couch. “Come sit with me, Mr. Seo. Let’s see if we can sneak a nap in before Chanyeol hyung begs us to take our kids back.”

Johnny rearranged them on the couch so that he was behind Taeyong with one arm around his middle. He pulled Taeyong closer.

“Mr. Seo was my father. But you can call me daddy.”

Taeyong struggled out of Johnny’s grip and smacked his chest. “That was disgusting, our children call you that. You should be ashamed of yourself. I’m going to go take a nap by myself, _daddy_.”

“Yong, come back! I’m sorry!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you liked it!   
> Come talk to me on Twitter @evilandiknowit!


	3. Backstory - 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny moves to Seoul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We meet Taeyong in the next chapter and then we'll have another one where they adopt Chenle :3

It all began when Johnny had just moved to Seoul. Frustrated with his work in Chicago, he went to Yebin and asked for sole custody of Donghyuck. She frowned and brought him some coffee.

“Are you sure you want to do this? You’re not moving to the West Coast, you’re moving to a different country.”

Johnny sighed. “I feel like I could be doing so much more, do you know what I mean? The only good thing in my life right is puppy and weekly coffee with you.”

“I’m flattered that I’m a highlight of your sad life. But Johnny, you’re 24, you have your entire life ahead of you. Are you sure that going to Seoul is the right decision?”

“I have a job with the same company, if I want it. My parents are thrilled that I’m going back, as long as I don’t give up my citizenship of course.”

“Of course,” Yebin laughed.

“But would you be okay?”

They both turned to look at Donghyuck, who was napping on the small couch next to Yebin’s beagle.

“I’ll miss him,” she said, wistfully. “But we both know I wouldn’t be able to give him the complete care and affection he needs, without you. I refuse to take him away from you, he wouldn’t be able to bear it. Besides, this gives me a reason to come to Seoul often.”

Johnny pulled her into a tight hug. “I have no regrets about any of this. How it happened, how it turned out. Accidentally knocking you up was the best decision of my life.”

Yebin laughed, a little teary. “You better skype me every week. I need to see my Hyuck puppy grow before he forgets me.”

“You got it, sweet cheeks.”

* * *

 

They moved with minimal fussing on Donghyuck’s end. He cried for a bit in the plane, but the crew was extremely helpful, to the point that one of the stewards carried him around so that Johnny could get some sleep. They set up temporarily at a hotel near Johnny’s workplace while he looked for a more permanent place to live.

Strangely enough, Johnny lucked out and found a cute house (a house! after years of living in an apartment), complete with a front yard. It was every suburban dad’s dream come true. He let Donghyuck wander around the house while he signed the papers and discussed payments.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to the neighbours.”

“You know them?”

“Yeah,” said Kim Jongdae. “I went to college with Kyungsoon and when she was looking for a house with her boyfriend, I brought them here. The neighbourhood is lovely and very accepting, unlike a lot of other places. I think you’ll fit right in.”

He gestured meaningfully towards Johnny’s bag where a pin of the rainbow and bisexual flag were attached. Johnny felt a little relieved and nodded in thanks.  He called for Donghyuck and then the three of them headed next door.

They met Kyungsoon, who glared at Jongdae before inviting them inside. Johnny was frightened, yet impressed. Kyungsoon brought them tea, cookies and a map of the neighbourhood with child specific needs highlighted.

“Chanyeol and I are planning for a baby soon,” she shrugged. “Figured it would come in handy.”

“Why didn’t I know about this?” Jongdae whined. “Am I not your best friend? Am I not your _only_ friend?”

Kyungsoon stared at him, unimpressed. She didn’t respond and continued petting her dog and Donghyuck, who had managed to climb onto her lap and start playing with her hair.

“Um, Kyungsoon-ssi do you know of any dance classes nearby? Hyuck’s mother put him in a trial ballet class and he loved it. I thought it would be nice to continue.”

“Funny you should ask. Just yesterday, Yuta from down the street was yelling about his cool new dance class hyung. So I’m assuming there’s one nearby. Give me your phone number, I’ll have the information ready by the time you move in.”

Johnny stood up and bowed. “Thank you so much, Kyungsoon-ssi.”

Kyungsoon’s lips twitched. “Your child is chewing on my hair, Johnny. I think we’re way past formalities now. Call me noona.”

And sure enough, Johnny found Donghyuck with a handful of Kyungsoon’s hair in his mouth and giggling.

“Puppy, you’re too old for this.”

Donghyuck carefully removed the hair and pouted. “It smell nice, daddy.”

Johnny sighed. “He did this with soap too. I’m going to have to childproof everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment!


	4. Backstory-2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of the backstory!

True to her word, Kyungsoon had sent over the details of the dance class within a week of them officially moving in. Johnny looked over the address while making dinner and mentally calculated the distance between the studio and his house.

“Puppy,” he said, spooning some soup into Donghyuck’s mouth, “do you want to join a dance class?”

“Like bal-ey?”

“Yes, like _ballet._ Remember when mom took you for that class and you saw all the cool boys jump?”

Donghyuck wiggled excitedly. “Yes! Hyuckie wants to do bal-ey!”

“Okay, okay. We’ll go tomorrow and see if you can join soon, okay? You won’t have regular school for another year and it’ll be nice for you to make friends.”

“Yay!”

* * *

 

Johnny decided that going to the studio would more helpful than calling. So, he bundled Donghyuck up in a duck hoodie and headed out right after breakfast. After they reached, he put Donghyuck down and crouched in front of him.

“You need to promise to hold my hand, okay puppy? This is a new place and daddy doesn’t want you to get lost.” He stuck his pinkie out for a promise.

Donghyuck carefully joined their pinkies and flashed a smile.

“Pwomise!”

Satisfied, Johnny led them inside, taking small steps so that his tiny son could keep up. The studio was minimalistic with four doors leading into separate dance rooms. A desk at the lobby was being manned by a short man (well, everyone was short for Johnny) who seemed to be texting, with shockingly blue hair and multiple ear piercings. Donghyuck tugged at his hand.

“Daddy, look! Pwetty!”

The man looked up and smiled at Donghyuck. Johnny stifled a laugh as his son gasped and tried to hide behind his legs.

“Hi, I’m Seo Youngho and this is Donghyuck. Say hi, puppy.”

Donghyuck waved shyly from behind Johnny’s legs.

“We were here to enquire about the dance classes, their timings and if you took very young children.”

“It’s lovely to meet you both. I’m Ten, I teach contemporary, tap and twerking on request.” He winked at Johnny. “We do take ‘very young children’, but only for a few hours a day because growing bodies shouldn’t be strained that much.”

Ten stepped away from the desk and crouched down to talk to Donghyuck.

“What kind of dance do you like?”

“Hyuckie likes bal-ley,” he shyly replied.

“Then you’re in luck. Our ballet instructor Song Qian is taking a class right now. Should we go take a look?”

Donghyuck looked at Johnny and beamed when he nodded his permission. Still hesitant around Ten, he slowly inched towards the extended hand before gripping it.

“Come on, Johnny-ssi, get ready to witness some magic.”

As it turns out, Ten was right and Donghyuck was awestruck by the ballet teacher Song Qian. She came over to greet them while her students practiced and assured Johnny that all ballet dancers start young. They spent some more time ironing out details of when Donghyuck could start, how many days a week and if he wanted to do just ballet.

“I think he would do well with contemporary,” Ten mused.

“Can we work something out where he can try all the classes and later we’ll pick the ones he liked?”

Ten grinned at him. “You’re a good dad, Johnny-ssi. Come on, we’ll work out your payment schedule. Don’t worry about the trial classes, that’s on us.”

At the end of it, Donghyuck was scheduled to attend six trial classes. Contemporary and tap with Ten, Ballet and traditional Chinese dances with Song Qian, Jazz with Kim Hyoyeon and Hip-Hop with Lee Taeyong. Ten gave Johnny a timetable and asked him to attend every trial.

“If you have work, we can schedule him for the evening class but it’s important that you be there for the first class at least.”

“Don’t worry about that, I’m working from home until Donghyuck starts school so I’ll be there.”

Ten raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He waved at Donghyuck before heading to an empty room.

“See you next week for class, Hyuckie!”

“Bye hyung!”

* * *

 

Johnny ran as fast as his legs could take him towards the dance studio. He was inexcusably late and Donghyuck was probably exhausted and cranky and sad. God, Johnny was the _worst_ father ever. He stood panting for a minute when he finally reached and wiped the sweat off his face.

He walks up the stairs and pushes the door open, ready to fall to his knees and apologise to his son. Instead, he finds Donghyuck eating snacks and sitting with a lean man with white hair who was wearing the most absurd pair of short shorts Johnny had seen.

“Puppy?”

Donghyuck perked up and abandoned his half eaten snack (a carrot, and Johnny was glad this stranger hadn’t succumbed to his son’s requests for sweets) and ran towards his father.

“Daddy! I made a new fwend! Taeyongie say hi to daddy!”

‘Taeyongie’ got up and gave Johnny a short bow. His face was unamused.

“You’re late, Johnny-ssi. Please see that it doesn’t happen again.”

“I apologise for making you wait so long. I had a meeting that ran late.”

“It isn’t me that you should apologise to.”

With that, he ruffled Donghyuck’s hair and left the room. Johnny was equally intrigued and chastised.

“I’m sorry for coming late, puppy. I promise I’ll never do it again.”

He sticks his pinkie out and Donghyuck joins his own very seriously.

“It’s okay, daddy! Taeyongie is vewy nice!”

Johnny hoists Donghyuck up on his waist and grabs his little bag.

“Is that so? Then you have to help me make cookies for Taeyongie to say thank you for staying with you.”

Donghyuck nodded enthusiastically and finally told Johnny what classes he wanted to continue. He would do ballet with Song Qian, contemporary with Ten and hip-hop with Taeyong. Johnny just hummed in response and ran through cookie recipes in his mind.

* * *

 

He sent the cookies with Donghyuck the following week, with a note thanking Taeyong and asking him to enjoy the cookies. To his surprise, Donghyuck had a new batch of cookies with him the next day when he went to pick him up.

“What’s this?”

“Taeyongie sent cookies for daddy!”

There was a cute, green note attached to the container.

 _To Johnny-ssi,_  
Thank you for the lovely cookies. Please enjoy the ones I made for you and don’t forget to share with Donghyuckie!   
                                                                      -Taeyong ^_^

Johnny smiled a little at the smiley face and tucked the note into his pocket. He pulled out a cookie and split it with Donghyuck. It was delicious.

They spoke like that for a while, exchanging notes through Donghyuck and sending each other food. With Donghyuck’s elaborate dance timetable, it was very rare that they got to meet face to face. Johnny found out that Taeyong was his age and had a double degree in dance and physio-therapy. Taeyong found out that Johnny was a dork who still cried during Disney movies. For a few months, it was nice. It was enough. Until Ten intervened.

“Oh my god,” he said and pushed them into an empty practice room one day. “Stay there and work your shit out. I’m taking Hyuckie out for lunch.”

“No seafood!” they chorused and then looked at each other.

“I…didn’t know you were aware about Puppy’s allergies.”

Taeyong pursed his lips. “I brought fish stew the other day for lunch, and Hyuckie said he wasn’t allowed to eat any.”

“Oh.”

They lapsed into silence again.

“Johnny, I. I don’t want to overstep but…”

“Please do,” Johnny blurted out. “I’ve been waiting for something to show that you’d like to be more than friends.”

When Taeyong didn’t reply, Johnny backtracked.

“I mean, I would love to be friends too! Please don’t be offended, I swear I’m not a creep. I just thought. There was something there,” he finished lamely.

“Johnny.”

“Yes?”

“Ask me for my number.”

“Oh.” Johnny smiled. “Can I have your number, please?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

* * *

 

For years, Ten would bemoan the fact that they had the lamest love story ever. He was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry if this was a little rushed and terrible ;-; I couldn't find the inspiration to give them the ending they deserved but didn't want to leave them hanging either. Thank you so much for reading this random story that I decided to write on a whim!   
> Come say hi to me on twitter @bckspcdntblvn !

**Author's Note:**

> Planning to make this into a series of chapters about their family and friends. The cheesy title is an indication of what is to come :3  
> This is where I got the idea about the dinosaur head lol- https://twitter.com/jen_aceeeeey/status/968704156188917760?lang=en  
> Please leave a comment!


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